Yes, John Wall is worth his gigantic contract extension

Yes, John Wall is worth his gigantic contract extension

The first contract extension from the 2010 NBA draft class is now in the books. On Wednesday, the Washington Wizards officially locked up former no. 1 overall pick John Wall to a five-year maximum extension worth around $80 million.

The Wizards’ front office has made countless questionable decisions in recent years. This is not one of them. Paying Wall to stick around long-term makes perfect sense both from a credibility standpoint and a basketball one.

It’s been years since the Wizards were relevant. They haven’t made the playoffs since 2008 and haven’t won a playoff series since 2005. Since the disastrous end of the Gilbert Arenas era, the Wizards have been in the same class of NBA teams as the Charlotte Bobcats, Sacramento Kings and pre-Blake Griffin Los Angeles Clippers.

Extending Wall doesn’t guarantee them success in the playoffs, nor does it make them a top free-agent destination. But it doesn’t hurt on either front, either. Having Wall locked up long-term makes pitches to future free agents much more credible and plausible. After Arenas’ gun-related 2010 suspension and the hapless Nick Young/Andray Blatche teams that followed, building around a player like Wall (unselfish, a hard worker and generally beloved as a teammate on and off the court) is a necessary rebranding move.

More importantly, Wall makes the Wizards a lot better on the court. He played just 49 games last season, missing the first two months of the season with a knee injury. In the 33 games he missed at the beginning of the year, the Wizards went 5-28. During that time, they ranked dead last in offensive efficiency (points scored per 100 possessions) and 27th in assist-to-turnover ratio, per NBA.com.

After Wall returned on January 12, they went 24-25 — almost a .500 team — for the rest of the year, with their offensive ranking jumping to 23rd in the league. They also had the NBA’s sixth-best defense after Wall’s return (they ranked 12th while he was out).

A slew of point guards from the last few draft classes have signed big extensions, and while Wall’s new contract is by far the biggest of the bunch, his stats compare favorably to the rest of them in every category except three-point shooting. Wall’s shot has long been his biggest weakness, but his defensive instincts, creative passing and explosive finishing ability more than make up for that at this point in his career.

Seriously, take a look at these splits:

In October, the Philadelphia 76ers signed Jrue Holiday to a four-year, $41 million extension (Holiday has since been traded to the New Orleans Pelicans).

Basketball-Reference.com

The Denver Nuggets locked up Ty Lawson for four years and $48 million last fall.

Basketball-Reference.com

Earlier in July, the Atlanta Hawks re-signed Jeff Teague for four years and $32 million.

Basketball-Reference.com

On Tuesday, the Detroit Pistons landed Brandon Jennings in a sign-and-trade with the Milwaukee Bucks, after he agreed to a contract worth about $24 million over three years.

Basketball-Reference.com

Wall more than holds his own in this group. Is he worth nearly twice as much as some of them? In a vacuum, probably not. But giving him this contract doesn’t hurt the Wizards going forward. Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor come off the books after this season, and they’ll still have Bradley Beal and Otto Porter on rookie contracts. Combining a full season of Wall playing at the level he played at last year with the flexibility to add pieces in the future leaves the Wizards in very good shape.

More than anything, locking up Wall now saves the Wizards some serious headaches over the next year. If he didn’t sign an extension by October, Wall would have been headed for restricted free agency next summer. Washington clearly would have matched any offer he got from another team, but signing him early spares them the possibility of him demanding out if this season goes badly.

The Bucks dealt with that with Jennings, and it didn’t end well for anybody. The Oklahoma City Thunder weighed their options with James Harden and opted to trade him last fall to spare themselves the drama. The then-New Orleans Hornets matched Eric Gordon’s offer sheet from the Phoenix Suns after his much-publicized comments asking them not to. The Minnesota Timberwolves didn’t max out Kevin Love, and it’s been a sore spot between him and the organization ever since.

The Wizards took the smarter approach: they kept their man, saved themselves the threat of free agency looming over their heads and Wall got paid. If Beal and Porter continue to develop, Washington could be a playoff team as soon as this year. Everyone wins.

I found this on FTW and wanted to share:
%link%
For more great sports stories ...
*visit For The Win: https://www.ftw.usatoday.com
*follow @ForTheWin: https://www.twitter.com/forthewin
*like FTW on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/usatodayftw